A taste of the past

Amid all the chain restaurants and fast-food joints it is possible to sit down to a cocktail or a meal on Hollywood Boulevard in a setting that carries a classic Hollywood vibe. Here are spots you might want to check out.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel: This Spanish-style hotel was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremonies in 1929. It never lost all of its glamour, but a renovation in the mid-2000s gave it back a lot of its shine. For a subtle and affordable taste of life at the Roosevelt we’d suggest you catch happy hour at the lobby bar of the Public Kitchen and Bar. Five-dollar drinks and appetizers while you imagine the ghosts of former residents such as Clark Gable and Carole Lombard passing by.

Musso & Frank Grill: It really doesn’t get any more Old Hollywood than Musso & Frank, which has been serving steaks and chops and homemade chicken pot pies since 1919. Save up for a nice meal out – it’s not inexpensive – or have one of those fine, cold, classic martinis and think about all the legends that’ve walked through these days.

Pig ‘N Whistle: Unlike the first two establishments on this list, the Pig ‘N Whistle vanished for many years after a successful run that started in 1927 and lasted several decades. Stars and regular folks would stop in for a meal or a drink before a show at the eatery, located next door to the Egyptian Theatre. Around 1999 new owners poured a million bucks or so into a restoration and today it – and the equally well restored Egyptian – is back in business. Its menu is more moderately priced than Musso & Frank’s but the ambiance is almost as nice if not as original. Happy hour is a real winner here with the entire food menu also half-off from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

Premieres

What: The TCL Chinese Theatre and the El Capitan Theatre both host red carpet premieres for new movies and while it’s not going to be easy for you to get a ticket to the actual movie you can catch glimpses of celebrities arriving without much trouble.

Where: The TCL Chinese Theatre, which has more premieres than any other theater in town, is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. The El Capitan Theatre is located across the street and down half a block at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard.

Good to know: Just because a movie features certain stars there are no guarantees that the entire cast will be at the premiere. A handy page to bookmark to keep tabs on premieres at these two theaters as well as others around town can be found at Seeing-stars.com/calendar.

'Kimmel Live'

What: The only live television show taped in the heart of Hollywood, Kimmel’s ABC late-night show brings A-list celebrities and hot musical acts before a live audience at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday each week.

Where: Kimmel’s show tapes at 6840 Hollywood Blvd., which is next door to El Capitan Theatre and directly across the street from the Dolby Theatre.

How to go: Tickets are available online through 1iota.com/Show/1/Jimmy-Kimmel-Live. You have to register on the site first, and to be in the audience you’ve got to be 18 or older (16 or older for the mini-concerts the show hosts). That website lists upcoming guests once they’re confirmed, or you can take the luck of the draw and request tickets for a future date without knowing who’s going to appear. You’re allowed two tickets maximum. For concerts, a lottery draw is usually done for tickets through the same website.

How much: Free

Good to know: From call time to conclusion, a taping can take three hours. Tickets also can be requested by calling 866-JimmyTix.

It’s still early on Hollywood Boulevard one recent morning. The sidewalks are as clean as they get – and that’s more than you may remember from the grittier days of the boulevard, which has spruced up nicely for an aging star.

Sure, there are still plenty of vendors of $5 T-shirts and plastic souvenirs shouting, “Come in! Come in!” and there are the first few celebrity impersonators out to make a few bucks posing for pictures, assuming anyone wants a picture with a Spider-Man who looks like he slept in his worn costume or with a Marilyn Monroe who looks almost as old as she would be were she alive today.

But that’s not all – or even most – of what you get from a day trip to Hollywood today. Look around a little more. There, at the foot of the steps to the Dolby Theatre, a few early risers are posing for photos where the Oscar nominees walk the red carpet every year. Bringing the Academy Awards back to Hollywood in 2002 set the district on a better path.

A block or two away, the TCL Chinese Theatre is readying for a ceremony to imprint the handprints and footprints of a famous Chinese film director in cement, adding one more star to the iconic courtyard outside its newly refurbished theater.

Across the way, the theater where “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is taped four nights a week is still quiet, while the upscale yet historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel bustles as guests come and go. A few blocks away, visitors to the Hollywood-Highland shopping complex are framing a picture-postcard view of the most iconic sign in the world.

And if you still hanker for a dose of old-school kitschy Hollywood, there are always the off-beat museums, from the Hollywood Museum that fills the old Max Factor Building to the Hollywood Ripley’s Believe It Or Not right around the corner.

You may drive over these streets and through this neighborhood often without stopping to look around. You may not have come here for years. On a recent day, we motored up from Orange County for a day trip to Hollywood, out to experience it anew. Here’s a bit of what we found, a few ideas to inspire or motivate your next outing.

An historic theater

The year 1927 was a big one for Hollywood premieres, and perhaps none had as big an impact as the arrival of Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, now properly known as the TCL Chinese Theatre. So much Hollywood history has taken place here that it’s the one essential stop on any visit to Hollywood. We’d seen movies there before, but it had been a few years ago, so it was startling to walk into the main theater two months after a major renovation and see how beautiful this movie palace is today.

Tours of the theater are given daily for about the cost of a movie, and it’s an informative and fun way to learn about the most famous movie theater in the world. As we worked our way from the lobby, where there are collections of costumes primarily worn in movies that premiered at the theater plus programs for some of those premieres, Levi Tinker, director of tours for the theater, rattled off one anecdote after another about its history.

For instance, you probably did not know that groundbreaking Chinese-American actor Keye Luke (“Kung Fu”) also painted the murals in the entranceway to the theater, or that bandleader and Charo spouse Xavier Cugat did the murals on both sides of the theater itself.

The movie that opened the place? That would be the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s “King of Kings,” to which you could purchase a premiere ticket for $11 or wait a day and buy a cheap seat for a quarter.

When the Chinese opened, it had 2,258 seats. Several subsequent renovations trimmed that down, with the just-finished one leaving 932 seats. That still makes it the largest IMAX theater by seating in the world, and its massive IMAX screen – 94 feet wide by 46 feet tall – is the third largest in the country.

Tours also spend a good deal of time in the forecourt of the theater, where 267 honorees are remembered by their handprints and footprints. On a recent morning, Chinese director Feng Xiaogang – “the Stephen Spielberg of China,” as he’s known – was honored as the 267th, carefully kneeling on a padded bench to press his hands and shoes into a square of wet cement.

Alwyn Hight Kushner, president and chief operating officer, looked on proudly. Since the main historic theater reopened in September with a 75th anniversary screening of “The Wizard of Oz,” moviegoers have been coming out in strong numbers to check out its facelift.

At the top of the steps at the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall and entertainment complex is a viewing platform to get a view of the Hollywood sign. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
The TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX is viewed by visitors during a tour in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Cement squares where movie stars have cast their hand and foot prints can be viewed outside of the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Chinese director Feng Xiaogang has his hands cast in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, center, poses with well known Chinese-American actor James Hong, left, and his wife Xu Fan, right, when his hand and foot prints were cast in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Chinese director Feng Xiaogang has his hands cast in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Chinese-American actor James Hong strikes a pose for cameras during the imprint ceremony for Chinese director Feng Xiaogang at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Chinese director Feng Xiaogang had his hand and foot prints cast in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
A Chinese wax figure greets visitors to the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX as they enter the lobby. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
The dress Fay Dunaway wore in "The Wicked Lady" is displayed, along with other famous movie dresses, in the lobby of the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Great attention was paid to detail in the construction of the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX, which can be seen in the lobby of the Hollywood landmark. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Programs from past movies, which have been shown at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX are on display in the lobby. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Men use large signs and a foam finger to try to entice passersby to go into their store and buy Hollywood souvenirs on Hollywood Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
The Roosevelt Hotel is on Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive, about half a block from the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
The lounge of the Roosevelt Hotel has an old world Arabic feel. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
A life-size Shrek statue greets passersby at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum on Hollywood Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Tourists tour Hollywood in a topless van. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Six-foot tall Kyle Vorst of Sacramento stands next to an 8-foot, 11-inch figure of Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in the world at the "Ripley's Believe it or Not!" museum on Hollywood Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Visitors to the "Ripley's Believe it or Not!" museum get a close up look at a Marilyn Monroe portrait made out of candy. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
A George Burns portrait made out of discarded puzzle pieces hangs on a wall at the "Ripley's Believe it or Not!" museum on Hollywood Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Take a walk up the steps at the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall and entertainment complex to get a view of the Hollywood sign. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
During Oscars week, a red carpet leads up these stairs to the Dolby Theatre where the Oscars ceremony takes place. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Children pose for photos with a statue of Marilyn Monroe on Hollywood Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
A statue of Johnny Ramone sits atop his grave site at the Hollywood Forever cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Jayne Mansfield is buried at the Hollywood Forever cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
A visitor to the Hollywood Forever cemetery takes a photo of Dee Dee Ramone's grave site. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
"Gone With the Wind" Academy Award winning actress Hattie McDaniel's grave site overlooks a lake at the Hollywood Forever cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Rudolph Valentino rests in the mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Hollywood director and producer Cecil B. DeMille and other family members rest at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
Director Tony Scott is buried at the Hollywood Forever cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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